But No Cigar

Daily Prompt: Tell us about a time things came this close to working out but didn’t. What happened next? Would you like the chance to try again, or are you happy with how things eventually worked out?

The biggest “close, but no cigar” moment for me occurred after I graduated from University and was looking for work. I had applied for a job at The Banff Centre and was offered a job as the Assistant to the Director of Audio. After having just graduated with degrees in business and arts, this was HUGE, as it was exactly the type of work I wanted to get into at the largest arts organization in Canada – creating opportunities and helping musicians pursue their dreams.

Unfortunately, this was also fall 2008 when the recession slowed down the market and all new hires were frozen by the executives at The Banff Centre, including the one they had just offered me.

As a result, I took a job at Fernie Alpine Resort, since it allowed me to move out West. I figured I would get closer to the “action” in case something opened up. Living in Fernie also allowed me to develop a nice relationship with some distant cousins (Wendy and Will Lemoine) that I had hardly met in the past, plus further develop special passion of mine: downhill skiing!

In the end, I never did get to (or have yet to) work at The Banff Centre. There have been a couple of good opportunities that I did apply for, but they didn’t materialize and now I live in Calgary with a beautiful daughter.

I would consider this event one of the “cross-road” in my life, and do sometimes wondered “what if?” – what if I worked at The Banff Centre, fell in love with a musician and never left the mountain town or ended up traveling around the world, trying to support her career. I certainly think it would have been different… definitely different! Better? I can’t answer that.

Fortunately, when I did arrive in Calgary, I did meet up with another passionate music “junkie” named Damien Mustaphi and was able to help start up a music organization (Indie403) that did help create opportunities and exposure (thanks to an awesome writing team) for musicians as well as learned a ton about the arts world, working for an incredible arts administrator in Sheri-D Wilson at the Calgary Spoken Word Society). Now I’m working in education, helping people pursue… well, maybe for some, it’s their dreams, but for most, a career.

So, while I was “close” with the big opportunity at The Banff Centre that didn’t work out, I don’t feel hard done by and like to believe things happen for a reason…